A single father has revealed how a terrifying moment in the gym left him with no front teeth and a lisp.
Ted Rixon, an operations manager from the UK, fainted during a workout after lifting a heavy weight.
According to the 32-year-old, who has been training at Zeus gym in Hastings for more than eight years, time at the gym is normally a ‘great release and escape’ for him.
However, on this occasion, his workout caused more stress than relaxation when he ended up in hospital after blacking out and falling down.
Talking about his gym habit, Ted said that training has helped his mental health, adding: ‘I’ve had a lot of ups and downs over the years with losing my dad and sadly losing the mother of my child.
Ted Rixon (pictured) a 32-year-old single father-of-one has been left without his two front teeth after passing out in the gym and falling heavily, landing on his face
‘I’m juggling a full time job, and being a full time father ,so the gym really is a great release and escape for me. It keeps me focused and lets me relax.’
Describing the incident, which happened on March 28, he said he had been lifting 110kg, and decided to drop down to 100kg for his last set.
‘I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent on the day, and my head wasn’t fully focused,’ said Ted.
‘I decided to rush between my second and last set and just clean and press without taking time to recover…I also [didn’t] breathe properly and [tried] to do the clean and press in one movement, which evidently led to me passing out and falling teeth first onto the log.
‘I instantly woke up after the impact and had people run over to me. I slowly realised what was happening when I spat out a tooth and felt the other wasn’t secure.
‘Other gym members came over and staff and looked after me whilst I was bleeding and looked like a ghost.’
Ted was rushed to A&E, where medics checked for fractures in his skull and jaw – luckily, the damage was limited to just his teeth.
He said: ‘I then went to the emergency dentist after the hospital, and had my other tooth and root removed, due to it being cracked. This was all in the same day which obviously was a lot for one day.’
Ted (pictured just before he passed out during his workout) explained how he hadn’t been feeling at his best on the day of the accident
According to Ted, the accident made him feel ‘really stupid’.
‘Annoyingly, I decided to miss all of the comfy mats and fall onto the log,’ he explained.
‘I’ve gone through a hell of a lot in life, so mentally [the accident] wasn’t great, as I deserve a break.
‘I feel strong in myself but obviously not happy with my two teeth missing.’
He added that losing the teeth has left him with a lisp.
Ted said: ‘I’m struggling to pronounce certain letters which also mentally hasn’t been great for me.
‘I’ve posted the video [of the accident] online and made light heart of it as I’ve been through a lot worse in my life than two missing teeth.
‘I’m just happy it wasn’t worse and I had no concussion or a fractured skull.
‘I’m sore around my mouth and lip as I bit a chunk of my lip off but apart from that I’m alive and now have a lisp. I’m now being referred to as Thed.’
Ted is now hoping to get dental implants to replace the teeth he lost in the accident – and has been quoted around £3,000 per tooth – an enormous cost for Ted.
‘Being a full time single father doesn’t really allow me to have that money as spare,’ he explained.
However, he is hoping he will be able to raise the funds, and get the work done.
‘The gym owners at Zeus created a GoFundMe for me without even asking, which has been really nice,’ he said.
After passing out, he fell down (pictured) and landed heavily on his face, instantly knocking out one front tooth and damaging the other so badly he had to have it removed
So far, around £500 of the £5,000 target has been raised, with 19 donations being made to the fund.
‘Really made it feel like my home from home. Thank you to Chris and Jackie Green for doing that for me and to everyone who has donated.’
Despite the injury, Ted says he is grateful it wasn’t worse, and shared advice for fellow gym-goers so they can avoid similar accidents.
He said: ‘I’m thankful my boy has his dad still, and it’s only two teeth. Don’t rush into things and know when to take a break. Take more creatine.’
Ted added: ‘If anyone could donate as well that would be great as well.’
You can find Ted’s GoFundMe page here.
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